The Paleo Lifestyle....

February 10/2012, 4 months shy of 43 years old.

I was first formally introduced to the Paleo Lifestyle by my friend and Senshido International Team member Jeff "Stinge" Liboiron back in July of 2011 as I was amazed at the fact that he looked the way one would draw a comic book super hero, he was (and still is) in incredible shape, cut and lean and had, at the time, been living the Paleo/Caveman lifestyle for 8 months. Inspirational to say the least.

He basically told me he was off sugar (all kinds from processed to all its differing forms  such as glucose, fructose, dextrose, sucrose, etc.), grains and dairy altogether and only ate real food. Real food meaning nothing man made, nothing processed, just like the cave men used to consisting of what could be hunted or gathered such as organic, free range, grass fed meats, organic vegetables and fruits, certain nuts and certain seeds, that's it, that's all.

And it's a lifestyle, not a diet. It is something one does and follows for life, not a certain period time, this isn't a cleanse either.  The very essence of cleansing a couple or few times per year means to be un-cleansed, unhealthy and toxic the rest of the time one isn't cleansing... makes no fuckin sense man, optimal health is something one should strive for and maintain all the time, not twice per year for a week or two. There is no going back to grains, dairy and sugar once you begin to research and fundamentally understand just how unhealthy and damaging these substances are to the human body in general.

I was so impressed, that I began slowly cutting things out but it was a slow process, I'd often "cheat" here and there... the irony of cheating one's self and justifying it, on its own is an other entire blog/subject matter, but that's exactly what I was doing, cheating too often to be able to call my lifestyle Paleo from the Greek word 'Paleolithic' meaning old or ancient times/era, or 'caveman' and reaping any kind of benefit from it just yet. You can't cheat... cheating only hurts you and defeats the entire purpose of living healthy and optimally. Cheating will not render any of the desired results.

Enter Scott Sonnon and Tacfit: 

http://www.rmaxinternational.com/flowcoach/ 

Scott Sonnon and I work in the same industry and both share the common goal of bettering humanity as a whole. Scott to me, is one of the most inspirational individuals I know, rather than blabber on about him, here is a brief bio from his own Facebook page, do not hesitate to check Scott out, he can only improve your life as he has thousands upon thousands worldwide:

"Overcoming childhood physical and learning disabilities, to become the USA National Team Coach and International Martial Arts Champion (in Sambo, Sanshou, Submission Grappling, Sport Jiujitsu, and amateur Mixed Martial Arts), Scott Sonnon earned the most coveted athletic distinction in his discipline - Honorable Master of Sport and became the first Westerner to formally intern behind the "Iron Curtain" at the Russian Combat Skill Consultant Scientific & Practical Training Center in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Blending his studies of biochemistry, biomechanics and psychophysiology, he developed an approach for multi-planar functional fitness - called Circular Strength Training, and an approach to rapidly recover from high intensity effort - called TACFIT. Author of numerous books and over a hundred videos, Scott now travels the world teaching for esteemed academies such as the NYPD Academy, FLETC, CBP Advanced Training Center, US Army 3/160th SOAR, FILEX, NSCA, CPTN, the Arnold Expo, Penn." 

So I've been reading and following Scott's daily status updates and posts and began religiously following all his nutrition and training principles, adding them to my routines and finally taking on the Paleo Lifestyle full on.

In essence, here are a few basic tips (modified some by me, inspired by Scott Sonnon):

1. Avoid all grains, dairy, sugar, legumes, artificial sweeteners, soy, carbonated drinks, all processed and fast foods, all GMO and anything that comes packaged in a cardboard box and/or containers, tin cans, plastic or anything that contains more than 2 to 3 ingredients which you know exactly what they are and consist of. Basically, only eat what you see in the pic above.

2. Eat grass fed, free range organic meats, wild meats and game, organic free range poultry, eggs and wild fish.
3. Eat organic, local, fresh, preferably raw vegetables, herbs and spices.
4. Eat  organic/wild fruits.
5. Eat only certain kinds of nuts and seeds such as pistachios, almonds, macadamia and walnuts or sunflower and sesame seeds. Try and keep it to a quarter cup per serving and no more than 2-3 servings per day spread out.

6. Consume a maximum of 2 teaspoons of raw, organic unpasteurized honey and maple syrup per day, you can substitute sugar for honey and maple syrup in organic teas and organic, fair trade coffees. Though high in sugar content, these sweeteners contain all kinds of essential nutrients, anti-oxidants, amino acids and immune system boosters They are also great for pre-workout energy and post workout recovery in small quantities mixed with a homemade protein shake.
7. Eat 3 to 5 meals per day, eat as much as needed and don't over eat, eat until comfortably full.
8. Skip (fast) a day once every other week (drink home blended veggie detox juices)
9. Drink a minimum of 1.5 to 2 liters of room temperature water a day. Also allowed as beverages are almond milk, organic teas and coffee in moderation. Green tea you can have as much as desired but water is truly the elixir of life.

10. Use only organic coconut oil, organic full fat butter or animal fats (organic home made slow cooked lard) to cook with and only consume , raw organic first cold pressed extra virgin olive oils, do not cook with them. Stay away from vegetable, Canola, refined and or hydrogenated oils and fats.

It's been pretty much around 3 full months now I have been strictly following and adhering to the 'caveman' lifestyle and my waist size dropped from a 32 to a 29 and my body fat has considerably dropped as well while maintaining my weight between 155 to 160 pounds the entire time.  I am also much more agile and faster than I ever was before. My energy levels alone have doubled, it's really indescribable as I now workout 6 days a week, and even on my off day I have to get at least a good hour and half hike up one of the Rockies or I'd be bouncing off the walls some.

Works out great too cause our son's 7 weeks old today and with the little amount of sleep we get, the Paleo/caveman lifestyle has honestly given me the energy to sustain my workouts and lifestyle since the little one's arrival.  

What's great as well is that people around me have been noticing my shape has gotten better and my energy levels sky rocketing, not to mention, when the majority of the town where we live would get the local flu, cold or stomach viruses going around, my wife and I were amongst the very few who never got sick. After explaining the lifestyle to them, a few jumped on the bandwagon and one of our friends told us after only 6 days of being on it, how much better and energized she felt already.  She actually just called me today to thank me for getting her on it as she couldn't believe how fast the results were for her.

Though I've posted this before, here is the Paleo Lifestyle in a nutshell... honestly, I couldn't recommend it more, I have yet to have heard someone I personally know take it up and not have it improve their over all health, strength and life and I know of at least 25 to 30 people personally living the caveman lifestyle, some having dropped anywhere from 5 to 75 pounds in 6 to 8 months.


Enjoy:

If you're interested in improving your health, your energy levels as well as your over all athletic abilities by 10 fold, research the Paleo Diet/Lifestyle on Google, try it out for 1 full month along with a proper training program 3 to 5 times per week and move a bare minimum of 30 minutes per day and you will be astounded at the results. 

Here is a great website to get you started containing everything from the why's of what to eat and not to eat, recipes and all kinds of excellent and eye opening articles on real nutrition and health: http://paleodietlifestyle.com/

Much Peace,

Rich